In 2010, influenced by the Tea Party and it’s focus on the economy, 17 states elected new Republican governors. And since January of 2011, every one of those states saw their rate of unemployment drop an average of 1.35%. Fewer people without jobs, compared to the national rate of 8.2 percent unemployment.

Kansas – 6.9% to 6.1% = a decline of 0.8%

Maine – 8.0% to 7.4% = a decline of 0.6%

Michigan – 10.9% to 8.5% = a decline of 2.4%

New Mexico – 7.7% to 6.7% = a decline of 1.0%

Oklahoma – 6.2% to 4.8% = a decline of 1.4%

Pennsylvania – 8.0% to 7.4% = a decline of 0.6%

Tennessee – 9.5% to 7.9% = a decline of 1.6%

Wisconsin – 7.7% to 6.8% = a decline of 0.9%

Wyoming – 6.3% to 5.2% = a decline of 1.1%

Alabama – 9.3% to 7.4% = a decline of 1.9%

Georgia – 10.1% to 8.9% = a decline of 1.2%

South Carolina – 10.6% to 9.1% = a decline of 1.5%

South Dakota – 5.0% to 4.3% = a decline of 0.7%

Florida – 10.9% to 8.6% = a decline of 2.3%

Nevada – 13.8% to 11.6% = a decline of 2.2%

Iowa – 6.1% to 5.1% = a decline of 1.0%

Ohio – 9.0% to 7.3% = a decline of 1.7%

The national unemployment rate is 8.2 percent. Among the remaining states (12) with Republican governors, only Arizona (8.2), and New Jersey (9.2) are as high or higher than average. Texas (6.9%), Utah (6.%), Virginia (5.6%), Nebraska (3.9%) and North Dakota (3.%) are distinctly under. Just a coincidence, of course.

bu-reauc-ra-cy n.1. Administration of a government chiefly through bureaus staffed with nonelective officials. 2.Government marked by diffusion of authority among numerous offices and adherence to inflexible rules of operation. 3. Any administration in which the need to follow complex procedures impedes effective action.

Economist Daniel Mitchell has been ranting lately about the pernicious effects of political correctness run amok. It’s really bad in The United Kingdom, but our own leftist government is working hard on their own version. It seems to be a characteristic of the left with their confidence that everything can be improved with more regulation. As you get accustomed to an increasing flow of regulation, the regulators—those appointed to actually enforce the rules quit arguing and just mindlessly regulate. Here are a few of Dr. Mitchell’s favorites from the U.K.:

— A job-placement center got in trouble for discriminating against incompetent people by seeking “reliable” and “hard-working” candidates.
— A Woman who was being threatened by thugs got in trouble with the police for brandishing a knife in her own home.
—A man got arrested for finding a gun in his yard and turning it over to the police.
—When the chief-starter at the London Olympics agreed to fire his pistol at a school sports day, parents thought it would be a treat for the kids. Health and safety officials ruled that the noise would be too frightening for the children.

Here at home, we are traveling down the same path. We really have to stop this:

Back in the U.K., the world’s most useless sign is installed in Raynes Park in south-west London. The patch of grass measures only 3 ft by 2 ft, but has its own official sign, as ordered by the town council. The warning appears at a time when officials are planning £70 million of budget cuts. A council spokeswoman said that the matter was being looked into, but the council was unable to determine how much the sign had cost, or why it was placed just there.

The most useless sign in the world, installed by a mindless bureaucracy. Think of all the steps that were involved in placing this particular sign in this particular place, and how many workers afraid to challenge directions, afraid to upset the proverbial apple cart. Mindless, utterly mindless.

And this, my friends, is what ObamaCare has in store for you. It is what Britain’s NHS has become, and people die because other people are unwilling to break the rules. This is what those with experience in other countries’ socialized medicine schemes keep trying to tell us. The media wants you to chuckle at these funny little stories, but when they come for you, there may be nobody willing to upset the apple cart.